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Martin Brundle (The Fly)
Martin Brundle is a fictional character and the protagonist in Chris Walas's The Fly II, the sequel to the 1986 remake of The Fly. He is played by Eric Stoltz. Fictional biography Martin Brundle was unique from the moment of his birth; although his mother, Veronica Quaife, was human, his father, Seth Brundle, was a unique genetic hybrid of human and housefly. Due to an accident with his experiemental Telepods — booths that allowed matter to be instantly transported from one location to the other — Seth Brundle was merged at the genetic level with a fly that accidentally slipped into the sending Telepod with him. Brundle's girlfriend, Veronica, discovered that she was pregnant by him after he began mutating into a deformed hybrid of man and insect. Fearing that her unborn child had been conceived after Brundle's fateful teleportation, Veronica wanted to have an abortion, but after she was forced to kill the mutated Brundle, Anton Bartok (Brundle's employer) convinced Veronica to go through with the pregnancy. Bartok Industries also took possession of the surviving Telepods, although they were no longer functioning properly. When Veronica gave birth to the larval sac containing the baby who would be named Martin Brundle, she died of cardiac arrest, allowing Bartok to raise the child for himself. Initially, Martin Brundle was unaware of his unique heritage, having simply been told that he (and his late father) suffered from a unique disease that caused him to age faster than normal; by the age of three, he already resembled a child of ten. The boy also inherited his father's exceptional intellect, as well as possessing an eidetic memory and little need for sleep. Although he was raised in a very clinical environment and was often subjected to medical tests, Bartok encouraged Martin to regard him as a surrogate father. At the age of three, Martin snuck out of his quarters at the Bartok compound and befriended a dog being kept as a test subject. He was later horrified when he secretly watched the dog being put through the malfunctioning Telepods, resulting in the animal's severe deformation. Bartok subsequently assured Martin that the dog was mercifully euthanized. On his fifth birthday (at which point Martin was in his twenties, physically), Bartok gave Martin his own private bungalow on the Bartok property to live in, and encouraged him to study the Telepods and complete his father's work. With the aid of fellow Bartok employee — and eventual lover — Beth Logan, Martin successfully repaired the Telepods, using a kitten as his first live test subject. Shifting focus to his accelerated aging problem, Martin used the Telepods' scanners to provide an analysis of his own body to try and find a cure, devising a "gene-swapping" program that would substitute his own mutant DNA for healthy DNA from a donor subject. He ultimately rejected this option when he realized that this process would horribly mutate the donor. Soon, however, Martin discovered that Bartok had lied to him about the fate of the mutated dog when he discovered the creature still alive (and in horrible pain) in a research pit. He chloroformed it to put it out of its misery. Just as Martin's dormant insect genes began to awaken, he discovered that Bartok had lied to him all his life, and was only using him to repair the Telepods. Martin gained access to video records which revealed Seth Brundle's full story to him for the first time, prompting Bartok to admit that he intended to use Martin's eventual transformation as a basis for scientific study and exploitation. Going on the run with Beth Logan, Martin attempted to seek information on a possible cure for his condition from Stathis Borans, his mother's ex-lover and the sole surviving witness of his father's failed last-ditch cure attempt. Borans was only able to confirm that the Telepods were Martin's only chance for a cure. Martin and Beth then fled to a motel, but Martin's physical and emotional changes became too much for Beth to handle and she desperately contacted Bartok. Back at the Bartok complex, Anton Bartok had been attempting to acquire the correct password which would allow him access to the Telepods, since Martin had booby-trapped the computer prior to his departure in order to prevent anyone else from using the system. With Martin now encased in a cocoon during the final stages of his transformation, Bartok attempted to obtain the password from Beth, with no success. Martin emerged from his cocoon much sooner than expected, and had fully transformed into a bizarre fusion of man and insect which was far more biologically viable and powerful than the sickly creature his father had become. The fully-transformed "Martinfly" creature went on a rampage within the Bartok facility, killing various security guards with an acidic spray and its own superhuman strength. Despite Martinfly's brutality towards his betrayers, his essential humanity remained intact, as highlighted by his refusal to harm a bloodhound sent to sniff him out. Finally cornering Bartok in Bay 17, where the Telepods were located, Martinfly entered the correct password ("DAD") into the computer, and then dragged Bartok into Telepod 1 with him. On Martinfly's signal, Beth activated the gene-swapping sequence. Emerging from the receiving Telepod, Martin was restored to his fully human form, his fly genes now transferred from his body to Bartok's, with Bartok suffering the fate of becoming a freakish monster himself.The Fly II, Brooksfilms/20th Century Fox Skills and abilities From the moment of his birth, Martin was a genetic fusion of human and housefly, the mutation initially manifesting itself as simple accelerated aging. When he became five years old, however, his insect heritage became more manifest, as he developed various skin disfigurements and began to lose his hair, culminating in his body encasing itself in a cocoon. When he emerged from this cocoon, he'd transformed into a large insect-like creature, possessing four arms and incredible strength. Unlike his father, whose transformation culminated in a sickly, distorted amalgamation of human and fly, Martin's mutation turned him into a dangerous, fully-viable hybrid creature. This is most likely due to his insect heritage being a natural part of his evolution rather than an accidental genetic fusion. In this form, Martin demonstrated the ability to climb sheer surfaces, along with superhuman strength and agility, allowing him to jump great heights and lift and throw heavy objects around with little effort. He was also able to spray a powerful corrosive (most likely a concentrated version of his father's "vomit drop" enzyme used for digestive purposes) from between his lower jaws. Although he sustained several gunshot wounds during his rampage, the injuries only temporarily slowed him down (although he initially fell to the floor after being shot at close range, it is unclear if he was simply playing 'possum' or if he was genuinely injured and seeking time to recover). Aside from his insect-based abilities, Martin possessed his father's genius-level intellect, demonstrating a significant talent for physics and biology, although his social skills were limited due to his clinical isolation and lack of opportunities to socialize with others. Notes * Seth Brundle was originally named for the racing driver Martin Brundle, and his son was most likely also named as a tribute. The Fly Papers, Tim Lucas, Cinefex Magazine, 1986 * Like his father, Brundle's diseased metamorphosis was broken up into various stages by Chris Walas, Inc.'s makeup and creature effects crew, ranging from facial discoloration to prosthetics to highly-articulated puppets. References Category:The Fly characters Category:Science fiction film characters Category:Fictional flies Category:Fictional hybrids Category:Fictional mutants Category:Fictional scientists Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional adoptees Category:Fictional child prodigies Category:Fictional physicists Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength Category:Fictional characters with eidetic memory Category:Fictional characters with extra arms Category:Fictional characters who can generate acid Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1989